Rep. Juan Edgardo (Aurora, Lone Dist.) yesterday said that it is too early for the national government to “let go” or leave State Colleges and Universities to operate out of their own funds by decreasing their budget allocations from state coffers.
Angara, chairperson of the Committee on Higher and Technical Education at the House of Representatives, made the statement when he was in Negros Occidental to be the commencement speaker at the 57th graduation ceremony of the Carlos Hilado Memorial State College in Talisay City.
Comparing SUC’s to people, Angara said some of these are “rich people” who can already operate out of their respective budgets while the majority are still “poor people” who still need the help of the national government to facilitate the education of those who cannot afford private tertiary schools.
While he understands that the national government is prioritizing a “revolution” for basic education through compulsory kindergarten training and the addition of two years in secondary schooling, Angara said the state must allow SUC’s more time to improve their facilities before they are left on their own.
On the concern of more financially-capable students entering SUC’s, Angara said this can be remedied by adopting a bracket system for tuition, where learners whose families have more income will pay more, while those whose parents have lesser income will get state subsidy.
Angara, a member of the University of the Philippines Board of Regents, said the he had already suggested this measure to the UP administration.
Meanwhile, Angara rallied the CHMSC graduates to adopt the “cycle of paying back” to their communities as they have been lucky to have finished tertiary education from a public school.
Speaking in Filipino, he noted the while there is a perception that Negrenses are “tikalon (braggarts)”, “Negros’ people are just good in what they do so they have some right to brag.”*PP
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